Chapter 608 - Rozhok Tollbooth!

On the tournament’s big screen, a convoy of vehicles drove westward, past the golden wheat fields of Yasnaya Polyana.

It was IG, the team that had jumped at Lipovka on the right edge of the map.

If they wished to take the shortest path into the play area, they should have taken the road that cut between the nursing home and the horseshoe mountain, then pass by the big warehouse to the north of the Shelter, and make a turn at the puzzle buildings near the School.

However, the flight route of the airplane at the beginning of the match was a nearly level horizontal cut across the map starting at Lipovka.

If IG had taken the aforementioned route, it would have been a faster journey, but their route would almost overlap that of the airplane.

There was no need to explain how perilous that path would be.

IG had learned their lesson from the previous two matches. They had spent a lot of time mapping their entry route in this circle.

In the first circle, their location was on the rightmost edge of the map and was not included in the play area.

Their first step was to move toward the residential buildings to the south of Yasnaya Polyana’s farmland.

They picked a residential building located on high ground, and ‘colonized’ the wheat fields as their territory.

If the next play area refresh was a tangential circle that went toward IG, then they would undoubtedly be able to secure a foothold in the residential area and be the undisputed lords of the entire wheat field to the south of Yasnaya Polyana.

That was because their location oversaw an entire area of flat land, and no teams would be able to get close to them. Even if they were forced to move from their current positions, they would still be within the play area.

However, luck was not on their side.

The second circle of the match was a tangential circle that covered the northwest corner of the map.

That was why, after jumping at Lipovka and setting up camp at Yasnaya Polyana, IG were now driving their way toward Rozhok.

Of course, IG was not the only team that was affected.

Other teams had also jumped on the eastern half of the map, at locations such as at the nursing home, Prison, the horseshoe mountain, and Mylta Power.

In the earlier circle, they had set up camp at the periphery of the play area.

With the new circle refresh, they were forced to move in the northwestern direction.

In the process of moving, Liu Zilang and the others who were at the slope south of Rozhok naturally became ‘border defenders’.

In the three minutes and twenty seconds before the play area was restricted, they had seen two teams passing by the slope.

However, unlike team SKK who was camping to the west of Pochinki, Liu Zilang and the others had become passive.

Their situation was different than that of SKK.

SKK was the first to enter the play area. With Pochinki behind them, they could have entered any future circles from any direction. They had no reservations in picking fights with other teams, and there were no worries of letting survivors go.

On the other hand, 4AM was at the edge of the play area. There was a river to the north, and if they wanted to enter future circles, their only route was through the road that led northwest.

There were more teams on the eastern half of the map that the western half. 4AM, with only three players left, was already at a disadvantage in numbers, and a one-on-one fight with another team was impossible.

If they had ‘set off firecrackers’ to welcome incoming teams, then those teams that entered the play area would hinder their movement past the slope.

However, it was not 4AM’s style to see so many teams drive past them without picking a fight.

Thus, their current objective was to pick the right opponent. They would either not fight at all, or pick a fight where they could eliminate the entire team without giving them any chance of revenge.

Time passed by.

In a while, the second circle began to shrink.

Other than several daredevil teams that took the long way in from Pochinki, most of the teams that were located on the eastern half of the map passed by the School and Rozhok, and moved toward Water Town and the Ruins.

Of course, some teams crossed the river and onto the northern mainland.

In any case, the second circle was a ‘yin-yang circle’.

It was unknown whether future circle refreshes will appear on the north or the south of the river.

As a professional esports team in the tournament, they took a gamble based on their experience.

On the Hua Xia commentary platform.

“Alright, we can see that all the teams on the eastern half of the map have started moving, and there were a few altercations along the way.”

“That’s right. However, up to this point, there had not been any casualties. It seems like most teams would rather not fight at this stage of the match, and are merely scouting out their opponents’ power level.”

“Oh! IG is currently at the vegetable patch to the east of Rozhok. What do you think they’ll do, proceed on the main road cutting across Rozhok?”

“But 4AM is on the high slope right next to it. If IG were to cut across Rozhok right now, I think they’ll suffer a beating by 4AM.”

“That has to be the case. The two teams don’t know who each other are. Even if both of them are Hua Xia teams, bumping into each other must result in a fight.”

As the commentators spoke, the caster’s camera happened to cut to Rozhok.

However, the unfolding situation was not what the commentators had predicted.

After going through the vegetable patch to the east of Rozhok, the four players of IG did not immediately hit the road but instead made their way toward the residential area on the high slope to the east of Rozhok.

“Wait a second. Oh, it looks like IG isn’t ready to leave yet. They’re planning to make it like bandits!”

“That’s right. I believe they want to set up camp on the high slope and intercept any other teams that will pass by Rozhok.”

“Now that’s something interesting. We have 4AM on the southern high slope and IG on the northern high slope. I’m afraid that the teams that pass by Rozhok are in for a terrible surprise.”

“Heh heh, as long as these two teams don’t fight each other, then whoever passes by Rozhok would make for a very delectable mincemeat sandwich…”

The Chinese live-stream viewers were jubilant when they witnessed this scene.

On the water tower to the south of Rozhok.

“There’s a team that came in at the north of Rozhok. What do we do? Do we fight?”

Aluka, who was lying prone behind a tree, shifted into a more comfortable position.

“It’s a four-man squad. Looks like they plan to camp at the edge of the circle.”

“They’ve entered the houses,” said Liu Zilang, furrowing his brows as he watched the opponents vanish among the residential buildings. “It won’t be a swift encounter. If we attack now, we’ll be exposing our location. From their positions, our opponents could stall us for a long time.”

He was silent for a moment, then continued, “Leave them be. Let’s focus on fighting the teams that get too close to us.”

Aluka and Cpt did not disagree; neither of them could come up with any alternatives.

As the blue circle shrank, before any teams had come their way, the rumble of an airplane engine suddenly appeared above them!

An airdrop!

At the same time, on the road next to the dormitory building, a four-man convoy appeared on the horizon.

At the vanguard was a speeding motorcycle, on which rode two people.

…